12 Naughty Days of Christmas: Volume Four

by Piper Stone

  “Hey, Handsome.” Her voice was quiet but very welcome. “Did you decide to wake up?”

  “What happened?” He forced his eyes wider, and looked up into her worried face.

  “You fell on the ice and hit your head on the railing,” she said. Stroking his cheek with her cool fingers, she smiled down at him. “Then you took a little nap.”

  “How long?” he asked.

  “Just a few hours,” she said, reassuringly. “You didn’t miss anything. It’s still snowing, and not much is going on.”

  He started to sit up, but his head pounded harder, so he gave that up, and shut his eyes again. “How did I get in here?”

  “Mamma Bear dragged you in. I couldn’t get you up in the bed, so I made you a pallet on the floor in front of the fireplace. Never underestimate the power of a woman in love, but even I couldn’t pick your heavy self up.” She kissed his forehead. “And I unloaded the car, and once you feel better, we can eat.”

  “Sounds good,” he said.

  A few hours later, they were sitting down at a small rustic table in front of a large picture window, watching the snow blow. “I think it’s letting up a little bit,” Lily said. Dishing him out a steaming bowl of fragrant stew, she said, “Once it clears, I want to get you to the hospital and get you checked out.”

  He shook his head, which thanks to the medicine she’d given him earlier, didn’t ache much at all now. “I’m fine.”

  “I thought we’d had a discussion about fighting with a Mamma Bear,” she said lightly. “Right now, we aren’t going anywhere. As long as you are okay, though, that’s fine with me. I like it here, in our own little secluded paradise.” She leaned over to him. “Sam, there’s a hot tub!”

  He took a bite of stew and savored the spices and the feeling of strength it was giving him. “Is there? You’d think I booked the cabin knowing you love a hot tub.”

  Had she really dragged him in here, and gotten him undressed, made him a bed, then unloaded the car? Kept the fire going and made supper? He’d planned to do all that, even to undressing her and putting her to bed.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “You would have been sorrier if I’d listened to you, and left you on the porch to freeze to death while I hung out in the warm car,” she said tartly. “So help me, if you spank me for not listening to what you said…” Her voice trailed away.

  He took her hand and kissed it. “We can talk about that later.”

  Lily rolled her eyes at him and stretched. “I’m sore. I could use a hot tub soak after we eat. I wonder if you have a concussion whether being in the hot tub would be bad?”

  “I guess we’ll find out, because I’m getting in there with you.” He smiled and vowed to make the rest of the weekend the best one he could for her.

  “The snow is just magical,” she said, looking out the window. Her eyes suddenly filled with tears. “Sam, I’m so glad you’re okay. I was so scared.”

  He pushed his chair back and pulled her over onto his lap, and held her while she sobbed. Women and their tears. He held her close, patted her back and spoke silly words to her ear.

  “Are you really okay?” she asked pushing away from him almost fiercely.

  “I am really okay,” he said. “My head doesn’t even hurt anymore.” He’d been awake several hours now, showered, dressed, and ate, and seemed no worse for wear. Did she need to be reassured? Apparently. He hugged her. “Thank you for saving my life.” She literally had. He would have frozen to death if she hadn’t somehow managed to get him inside.

  “Sam, I need…” She struggled to say the words and buried her head against his chest.

  “What do you need?” he asked her gently, not making her look at him. Sometimes it was easier to talk when you didn’t have to make eye contact.

  “I need…” She held him tighter, then blurted out, “I need a spanking.”

  He sat still for a moment. What? Then it occurred to him. She needed to know he was strong and still in control. To cede the power back to him. That made sense. While she didn’t like to be spanked – who would? – she did like the knowledge he was the one who made those kinds of decisions. Her alpha male, she called him. She didn’t want to be the Mamma Bear in charge. She need to know he was back to being the leader. Spanking her was not high on his list of things he wanted to do right now. His inclination was to spoil and coddle her, make love to her all night. However, her needs came first. Was he up to it? Yeah, he felt fine. Tired, but fine. He’d spank her, then they would go hot tub and then on to bed. He smiled a little, that actually didn’t sound like such a bad way to spend a snowy evening.

  “Stand up,” he told her.

  “I don’t need to be spanked very hard,” she said, as she stood and he noticed her knees trembling.

  “That isn’t for you to decide, now is it?” he said sternly, and saw the look of relief that flew across her pretty face. Okay, he’d made the right decision. She needed his authority.

  “Pants down,” he said.

  She opened her mouth to protest, and he gave her a look. “Now.”

  She shut her mouth and pulled her jeans down. “All the way off.” He was enjoying the rush of power too.

  Kicking her shoes off, she shimmied out of her pants and pushed them aside, then looked at him expectantly. “Over,” he said, and patted his lap. “I’ll warm those panties up before they come down. “

  Her hazel green eyes met his for a long minute, and then she flung herself over his knees. “Please, not too hard,” she begged him, making him smile.

  Not answering, he smacked her sharply on one cheek then the other, smiling at her panties that proclaimed ‘Kiss me under the mistletoe!’ with a large sprig of mistletoe. Grinning, he knew he’d be kissing under there later, but for now, it needed spanking and properly. He would not let her down.

  This time he was neither punishing nor playing with her, but reassuring her. A fine line to walk but he was able to do it. Letting her know he was in charge and perfectly able to take care of her was his goal. With that, he gave her a short volley of sharp quick smacks right on her mistletoe. He liked these panties. She might need to wear them more often. She wasn’t vocalizing yet, but he knew it wouldn’t be long. Her legs were starting to move in preparation to kick. He didn’t mind that, she had gorgeous legs and he liked them waving in the air. He never understood the kicking thing. What was the point? Of course, he liked it, it made her bottom wiggle enticingly. He didn’t like, though, when she threw her hands back to block her bottom. He didn’t want to hurt her hands. Bottoms could take much more than hands, but he realized she couldn’t help it. Instinct took over at some point. Her could hold both her small wrists in his hand and still control her. She mostly took her spankings as well as could be expected. What more could he ask?

  There, some noise out of her. “Ow! Sam!”

  “What, honey?” he asked, grinning. Yeah, this was better than aspirin. He could feel his energy rising.

  “It hurts,” she whimpered. Twisting, she tried to get away from him. He knew he wasn’t really hurting her, just a sweet sting on her sweet sit spot.

  “No, this hurts,” he said, and smacked her hard enough to make her yelp and her feet to kick. It was so adorable, he gave her another two before he lightened up again.

  “Sam, I changed my mind! No more!”

  He contemplated. Nah. He needed to make sure she knew that he was the one who decided when a spanking ended, that he had the power. It was what she wanted, and needed, he reminded himself. Ten more he decided, making the first five lighter and the last five ones for her to remember. She was squealing and twisting, but not sobbing, by the end of it.

  Pulling her up on his lap, he soothed her, kissing her and wiping her nose, rocking till she stopped panting and calmed down.

  “That was for not listening to me.” He hugged her close and whispered, “And for saving me. I love you, baby.”

  “Thank you, Sam. I love you too.” She snuggled into
his arms as if she belonged there. She did. For always. He’d never been more sure of anything in his life.

  Chapter 4

  “Almost home!” Lily bounced in her seat, and looked ahead. Blizzard, Tyler and her perfect Christmas were before her. Not that the weekend wasn’t great, because it was. They’d even been snowed in an extra day and she hadn’t complained a bit. Sure, she’d been a little anxious, but overall, other than Sam cracking his head almost open, it had been a lovely time. Hot tub, and lots of fun sex in front of the fireplace, in front of the kitchen sink, on the rustic table, in the shower, and a few times in the bed. She was pleasantly sore, and maybe, with any luck at all, pregnant. If she wasn’t, it wasn’t through lack of effort on their part. “I had a great weekend, Sam. Thank you so much for taking me,” she said, reaching over to rub his leg. “How’s your head?”

  “My head is fine, but yes, I’ve got an appointment this afternoon to get it looked at, or into,” he said. “Unnecessary, but I’m doing it to put your mind at ease.”

  “It won’t be the first or last unnecessary thing you’ve done,” she said. Happily looking ahead to silhouette of her beloved little town rising before them, she couldn’t wait to be there. She’d be picking up Tyler from the bus stop today, then tomorrow was his last day of school before Christmas vacation started for him. She’d be working all day tomorrow while he was at school. She’d cut her hours way back at the florist shop, but really wanted to work some there. She liked having her own money; money she could buy Sam a Christmas present with, or splurge on new boots or a surprise negligee without it showing up in the family account. He never said a word about what she spent, but it was the idea of it. Besides, while she never wanted anything to happen, she would never be unemployable and without a source of income, on the very off chance that he blindsided her like Jason did. She hadn’t worked in almost five years when they had gotten divorced and really struggled to find her niche in the workforce.

  “It’s sparkly,” she said as they drove into town. It was, the snow looked like diamonds, twinkling on the drifts. “Why did you stay here?” Lily realized she had never asked him that before. “You didn’t grow up here, your dad is in Florida, your brother is in school, you could be anywhere. Why here where the weather is often so miserable? You could do so much more in a bigger town.” She slapped her hand over her mouth and looked at him, horrified at what she’d just said.

  Sam laughed, a full blown throw back his head laugh. “Don’t worry, Lily, I won’t take you away from here. I know you love it.” He seemed to contemplate. “I started working in Des Moines, but one day I went for a short vacation to hike in the Black Hills, and just fell in love. I went home after my vacation and started doing research. I was single, young, and could go anywhere and live where I wanted. In my research, I found Blizzard. It’s as simple as that.”

  “No girl? No lawyer man mentor?” she asked.

  “Nope. Just a whim, and see how well it worked out for me? I have you.”

  “You need to work on your story,” she informed him. “There needs to be a long lost love or a some mysterious mentor guy who left you everything. You could make it much more interesting.”

  “I like the story of having a family for Christmas,” he said. “Just like those tv movies you enjoy watching so much.”

  “Are you glad to have us?” she asked softly.

  “Very. If you don’t know that, I’m doing something wrong,” he said. “You know we have that party tonight, right?”

  Lily took a breath. “I’m not sure I want to leave Tyler again so soon,” she confessed.

  “Work parties don’t start until late. You can tuck him in, and then we can go. I have a kid of one of the paralegals coming over to watch him. He won’t even know we’re gone.”

  Well, he covered all the bases, but one. “If your tests come back okay. We aren’t going if you need to rest.”

  “Lily, I’m fine,” he said. “So I will accept that. When my tests come back normal, we will go to my work party. Can you order some flowers to send, by the way? I’d appreciate it.”

  “I can. I’m good at that,” she teased him. “I can’t wait to be home. Party tonight, the Christmas parade Saturday, open house a week from Sunday, I need to wrap presents, make more cookies, plan dinners. What kind of Christmas dinner do you think we should have? I want to start a tradition.”

  “Lobster,” he said enthusiastically.

  “Lobster? For just us on Christmas Eve or for everyone Sunday during the open house or Christmas Day dinner or—”

  “Whenever,” he interrupted. “I just like the idea of a seafood Christmas.”

  “Well, it would be cheaper and easier logistically to do it just for us,” she said, planning in her head.

  “Well,” he mimicked, teasing. “Your husband makes big bucks, but you plan that logistic thing. Lily, you know I don’t care about any of this, right?”

  “About any of what?” she asked him.

  “These parties and all the planning. I just care I have you and Tyler to celebrate with. Is it making you happy?” He pulled into their neighborhood.

  “Of course,” she said quickly. Of course she was. That had been her goal all along. She wanted a busy holiday season full of family, friends, food and fun. Memories for their little family, for Tyler and for Sam were her goal. That was all she wanted. Oh, and to start traditions that Tyler could look back on as an adult and remember fondly and want the same for his children. “When are your dad and brother flying in? Friday, right?”

  “Yeah, and it took a lot of work to get Dad to leave Florida and come up to South Dakota in December. He didn’t think it made a whole lot of sense.” He turned into their driveway and pulled into the garage. “We’re home, baby.”

  “Yay!” she said, planning her afternoon. Unpacking, laundry, Tyler, feed him while she caught up on his weekend with Talia and Lucas, then party with her husband. The first thing she did was flip on the Christmas tree lights and turn on the music to fill the house with carols.

  Sam smiled as he came in, carrying the suitcases. “Merry Christmas,” he said, and kissed her under the mistletoe she had conveniently hung in the kitchen doorway.

  “Yes, it is,” she said. “How fancy is this party?”

  He shrugged. “I’m wearing a suit, if that helps.”

  Well, it helped a little, but not much. “I’ll figure it out,” she said bravely.

  “You always look great,” he said. “I’m going to head to the doctor and then swing by the office for a while. I’ll be home before supper.”

  “Call me,” she said. “Let me know what they say.”

  “Will do, worrywart.” He kissed her again and she watched him go, absently nibbling on her thumbnail. She had a feeling that made her vaguely unsettled, but wasn’t certain what it was. Deciding to ignore it, she pulled her phone from her pocket and called Stormy.

  “How was the romantic weekend away?” Stormy answered the phone.

  “Wonderful,” she said, sighing happily. “There was a blizzard, naturally, and we were snowed in till this morning. It was magical. We had a fire, and the power stayed on, and there was a hot tub inside the cabin.”

  “Oh, that does sound magical. I wish we could have gone,” she said.

  “Yeah, it would have been hard to do naked hot tubbing with you two there.” Lily reached for her cookie jar and took one out.

  “Or it would have been lot more fun! So how is your quest for the perfect holiday season going?”

  “I’m working really hard on it,” she confessed.

  A few hours later, she wondered why she even cared. Stripping off her party clothes, she glared at Sam who stood still, watching her.

  “Lily, you know what I do for a living. Why are you having a fit?”

  “I’m not having a fit.” She air quoted. “I’m mad, and hurt and upset. Just because I’m female doesn’t mean my feelings are invalid.”

  She threw her pants on the chair instead of
hanging them up and scrambled into a baggy pair of sweatpants and an oversized tee shirt to sleep in – if she could calm down enough to sleep. Right now, that was uncertain.

  “No, but you’re being irrational,” he said. He still hadn’t moved and for some reason that upset her too.

  “I am not being irrational. You are planning to take a nursing infant, one not even born yet, from his mother. That is just wrong.” The poor lady had just been hit that afternoon with the news that her soon to be ex was suing for joint custody. Lily and a few of the other women had spent the party trying to console her. It didn’t help at all that her husband was the lawyer in charge. Lily knew she felt guilty about it, irrational, but she did. Guilt by proximity?

  “Lily, that is not my call. I just help men get adequate time with their kids. Kids need both parents. I thought we hashed this out last year. Why are you upset?”

  Glaring at him as if he were insane, she repeated slowly for his dense male brain, “That baby isn’t even born yet, and you are trying to take it away from his mom. That is just wrong, and mean.”

  “It’s just as mean to the father to not be able to bond with his child and not see him,” he said, finally uncrossing his arms. “Fathers have rights too.”

  “Oh, don’t I know it,” she said, slamming the closet door. “And someone is very good at his job and makes things happen for poor abused fathers who are probably cheating anyway.”

  “If a mother was cheating, would that make her a bad mother, simply because of that?” he asked.

  “Don’t you use your lawyer voice on me!” Her voice rose an octave.

  “I’m using my husband voice on you and if you can’t calm down, I’m going to be using your hairbrush on you.” He folded his arms again.